Catch the notes

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The concert Music From Venice, on November 25 will feature Sara Michieletto on violin, Marialuisa Pappalardo on piano and Vyas Vijaydutt on tabla.

The time of a Star concert, Chennai (India)

The sound of stars

Hema Vijay

Pulsars are mysterious heavenly bodies out there in space. A highly magnetised neutron star, the pulsar is a little heavier and larger than our sun, and beams out radiation that is received as pulses of sound when these beams cross the earth, the same way light beams from a lighthouse cause flashes in the night sky.

The sound of neutron stars is mysterious. It goes like a grand cosmic percussion ensemble in space. Now what could all this have to do with a violin recital? Well, if you are a highly gifted and star-struck violinist like Sara Michieletto, then it would make for an ideal backdrop for a violin recital, especially this year, which has been declared by the UN as the International Year of astronomy. The pulsar stars made for a riveting backdrop to Sara’s violin recital, as much for their sound as for the thoughts they elicited on space. Pulsar stars, among other astronomical entities, have long been a passion with this young violinist. “But it was Dr N Rathnasree of the Nehru Planetarium, Delhi, who first gave me this idea,” she informs. The sounds of pulsars have been mixed and edited by Sara’s friend back home, Dr Luigi Parise. The concerts that she is currently presenting across the country this year takes ideas from stellar evolution.